


Emerald Acres

by AgentAyu



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cowgirl/Ranch AU, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-07-07 11:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15907359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentAyu/pseuds/AgentAyu
Summary: After Alice has a really bad day, her father calls up a friend to have Alice out of the city for the summer and recuperate in a small town in Maine. What she didn’t expect was to have her life turned upside down, whether in a good or bad way is still yet to be determined. Slow-ish burn. No magic. Cowgirl/Ranch AU





	1. Welcome to Emerald Acres

Alice held her breath as the plane landed on the tarmac at the airport in Portland, Maine. This was her first time flying on a plane that she could remember. The only other time she was on a plane was when she and her father had immigrated from England to New York City when she was a baby, which to her didn’t count since she had no memories of that trip. She was starting to regret her father’s idea to have her visit his friends for the summer with all the open spaces she saw on the flight. It was a drastic change from what she was used to having grown up in New York City with all the skyscrapers and crowded sidewalks.

She grabbed her bags from the overhead and patiently waited for the passengers ahead of her to exit the plane. Alice unlocked her phone to send a text message to her father’s friend that she had just landed and would be at the baggage claim in a few minutes. She scrolled back up the message to zoom in on the photo taken by her host so she’d know who to look for soon.

“Miss?” Alice slightly jumped when she felt the tap on her shoulder and dropped her phone. She scrambled to pick it up while giving an apologetic wave to the person behind her for stalling the line.

When she arrived at the baggage claim terminal from her flight Alice didn’t see her host anywhere. She stepped onto a bench to get a better view over the crowd waiting for their luggage to no avail at finding her father’s friend. Alice pulled her hood over her head and sat down on the bench as she waited. After a half hour had gone by, Alice began picking at the edge of her jacket sleeve anxiously as she was the last one from her flight still sitting at the terminal. She called her father’s friend and it went directly to voicemail which she left a message. She hung up and was about to call her father to let him know the situation when two women stormed by bickering.

“I told you the airline number was 714 not 815!” The shorter brunette woman snapped. “We were standing and waiting at the wrong terminal for the last half hour. We’ll be lucky she hasn’t already called her father.”

“Well, it’s also not my fault that your car is so old that it doesn’t have a way to charge a phone like a more modern car. We had to wait for my phone to charge to look at the message again.” The taller redhead countered. “Oh, look! She even left a voicemail probably thinking we’ve forgotten about her and left her stranded. What are we going to do when we find her? Leave her on a mysterious island with a chance of a polar bear showing up? She’ll then have a real reason to call her father!”

“First off, what is with you and that show? Second off, never insult my car ever again. She’s a classic and still in perfect working condition.”

“Except in times we really need to go somewhere outside of our little gem of a town.” The redhead listened to her voicemail before hitting dial to her missed call.

The two jumped slightly when they heard the climatic part of _My Heart Will Go On_ started playing behind them. Alice was blushing furiously as she answered the phone and looked at the redhead in the eyes. “Hi, Zelena. I’m here.”

Zelena chuckled as she smiled at Alice and continued talking to her through the phone even though they was less than two feet between them. “I can see that, darling. So sorry for the delay.” She hung up the phone and approached Alice. “My phone died on our way here.”

“No worries. I haven’t called Papa yet. You showed up before I could.” Alice teased.

“Well, that’s a relief. He would never let me hear the end of it if I couldn’t look after his daughter even though you are a grown adult.” Zelena grabbed Alice’s duffle bag. “By the way this is my sister, Regina. She tagged along since she doesn’t trust me with her baby girl.”

Alice quirked an eyebrow not understanding what picking her up from the airport would require to have Regina’s daughter. Seeing the blonde’s confused expression Zelena clarified. “I meant her car. It’s an old car that should be replaced.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “The only way I get rid of her is when she completely dies and Billy or Michael can’t find parts to replace. Again she’s a classic!”

“She’s ancient in car years. She’s the same age as my son!”

“You only hate her because you can’t drive her with your lead foot!”

Before she could stop herself, Alice started giggling at the two sisters and their bickering. “Are you two always like this?”

“No.”

”Yes.” Both replied at the same time before playfully glaring at each other.

“Alice, are you hungry? We can stop somewhere for you to eat before we head out to Storybrooke. It’s about an hour and a half from here. Do you need to charge your cell phone?” Zelena asked.

“No, thank you. I’m fine and my phone has enough battery life until we get to Storybrooke.”

The three of them walked to the short term parking garage, the classic vehicle in question was a 1988 black Mercedes Benz. Alice noted the scratches from years of driving and a small dent on the passenger door. “Sorry, it might be a tight space. Good thing you don’t have much luggage.” Regina apologized as she opened the driver’s side and lowered her seat for Alice to get in the back.

“I told you we should have taken one of the trucks or the SUVs.” Zelena commented. “At least they have a charging port.”

“But couldn’t you have charged your phone with a car charger by plugging it into the cigarette lighter port? Papa and I do that all the time with our phones in his car and it’s from the 70s.” Alice pointed out.

The two sisters looked at each other as they had a silent argument over their main topic of bickering. Regina finally spoke out loud as she started her car. “See, it’s not my car. It’s you being a technological dinosaur.”

“Oh don’t even start with me, Gina.”

“What did we talk about you calling me ‘Gina’, Zee?”

Alice leaned back in her seat smiling at the two bicker for the first third of their drive obviously trying to provide entertainment for the blonde and to ease her nervousness. She looked out the window and marveled at the natural scenery that passed them compared to the concrete jungle she had seen her entire life. The grin on her face kept growing until her cheeks were hurting as they passed lighthouses and the sights of maritime life. Both her and her father had a fascination with pirates and her father was formally in the Irish Navy before he had her.

She jumped from her seat slightly having been woken up feeling someone lightly scratching her knee. Zelena retracted her hand from her own startle. “I’m sorry, darling. I didn’t mean to wake you that way. But I thought you’d like to be awake we’re almost in town.”

Alice looked around now seeing more foliage than when she dozed off. They passed the town sign that read ‘Entering Storybrooke’ and crossed a bridge where someone wrote a ‘R’ on the Toll Bridge sign to read ‘Troll Bridge’. “This doesn’t look like any toll bridge I’ve seen. Where’s the toll booth?”

Regina chuckled. “This town hasn’t had one since I was mayor. We kept the sign up because we liked the charm of it being our Troll Bridge since the town is called Storybrooke.”

“You’re the mayor?” She didn’t realize her father knew someone as important as a mayor.

“No, I haven’t been mayor since my son went off to college and that was a couple of decades ago.” Regina replied.

The blonde gave the brunette a confused look. “The last time you were the mayor was twenty years ago? How old were you when you were mayor? And how long were you the mayor?”

“She was just out of high school when she ran for mayor and won the election.” Zelena answered. “My baby sister did a far better job than our previous mayors who almost ran our town to the ground that if it wasn’t for Regina Storybrooke would have ceased to exist long ago.”

Alice looked at Regina in awe. “That’s amazing!”

Regina blushed at the younger woman’s praise. “Yes, well our current mayor has done very well herself. I left her some very big shoes to fill and she has done fabulous. You should meet her later tonight since she and her family live on our ranch.”

“So how do you go from being mayor to ranch owner? Those seem like two drastically different jobs.”

Zelena was the one to answer so Regina could concentrate more on the road. “We grew up on a ranch. There are two ranches in Storybrooke: Storybrooke Ranch and Emerald Acres. Our family owns both ranches, however, Emerald Acres is ours…” She signaled between herself and Regina in reference to the ‘ours’. “...while Storybrooke Ranch is our mother’s and I guess the Belfrey’s now too. The heart of each ranch is different though. We grew up in a very rigorous competition environment with Storybrooke being well acclaimed for its production of well bred stallions and mares for derby racing and equestrian competitions. Emerald Acres is more family and community oriented. But both work together since our ranch has more specialized workers such as carpenters and blacksmiths. We’re also slowly getting our own stock of horses to help with the breeding. Our first batch just turned four this year which is exciting since we can now start training a few of them for competition, maybe, we’ll see.”

Alice looked at Zelena confused. “I thought most horses retired around four in the derby races. That’s what I heard at least from some of my Papa’s co-workers when they get a little too tipsy over a horse race.”

Both sisters scoffed, Zelena rolled her eyes. “We’ll cover that topic more in-depth later because we can go on a very long rant about that. Those horses retire because they’re put too work before they’re fully grown. It’s the equivalent of telling a six year old to run like an Olympic athlete. By the time they’re twelve they can’t run anymore because their legs were damaged from not being fully developed and under a lot of stress.”

“It’s why our mother’s horses win more competitions. It’s because we have them trained and grown properly to give them a long and healthy life after competition.” Regina added. “But our first generation is mainly for ground work around Emerald Acres or Storybrooke, with a possible few exceptions to go into competition. We already know one of our stallions is staying a ground worker because it’s not like we’d be able to have a certain someone part from him if we even tried.”

“Yes, well those two are about as close as my husband is with his stallion. You and I both know you can’t break a bond like that between a horse and their rider. Even you and Rocinante were close when we were younger. Now enough about horses! At least until we get to the ranch.” Zelena winked at Alice. “Quick tour as we pass through town: There is Granny’s Diner with her Bed and Breakfast directly behind the diner. Great food for a somewhat fast food place. Also has the best commercial lasagna in town.”

“Emphasis on commercial.” Regina inserted.

Regina and Zelena were constantly pointing out places of the town to Alice. Her head began to spin realizing the town wasn’t as small as she initially thought. As they passed the Sheriff's Station, Alice saw two women, one who appeared slightly younger than Alice and another much older, walking out of the station house. She suspected they might have been mother and daughter with how similar they looked. A small pang pricked Alice’s heart thinking how she never got a chance to experience that with her own mother.

“If you look to your left, you’ll see the entryway to Storybrooke Ranch.” Zelena pointed. “There is of course more to the town than what you saw in passing, but we covered Main Street and probably the places you’d have the most interest during your stay. Which reminds me, darling.” Zelena shifted herself in her seat so she could look at Alice better. “Your father told me why he would like you to visit us for the summer. Dinners on the ranch are a pretty big deal as in everyone who lives there eat together in a communal dining area. Which means close to about twenty-five people sometimes more. If it gets too much because you’d be meeting a lot of new people, let me know. While you’re here I want you to know you’re family. We’ll treat you like family. Meaning absolutely no judgement from anyone.”

Alice blushed and tucked her head into her chin as she mumbled a ‘thank you’. From the moment she met Regina and Zelena she already felt the welcome and free of judgement. If the other people on the ranch was anything like them, she was going to love it here. “How do you feed twenty-five people? Is it a constant potluck every day?”

“It’s either a potluck or each family brings their own meals and we eat in a communal dining area, except on Saturdays. Every Saturday one family is in charge of making dinner for everyone and it rotates every week. Like I said, we’re all very much like family so we eat together for dinner at least as a huge family.” Zelena answered as they turned around. “And here we are Alice! Welcome to Emerald Acres!”

The blonde leaned forward between the driver and passenger seats to look out the front window as they drove towards the ranch’s gate entrance. _EMERALD ACRES_ . Below hung another sign that read: _THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME_. Alice chuckled. “I think I’m sensing a theme with this ranch. Are we going to also be driving down the yellow brick road?”

Zelena shook her head as she chuckled. “Sadly no, Regina drew the line when I suggested we get a brick driveway and paint them yellow.”

“Concrete was the better option to not have our vehicles damaged.” Regina immediately defended herself.

“Yes, Madame Mayor.” Zelena teased.

Alice’s breathe was taken away as she took in the sites before her of the ranch. The driveway was lined with log fences on both sides, the posts crossed to form an ‘X’. There were trees everywhere providing plenty of shade and was probably a stunning view when the leaves started to change color in the Autumn. “I never seen so much green!” She gasped when she saw the house, if that’s what it could be called, it was more like a mansion. A cabin-styled mansion. “You live there?!”

“Everyone does. Don’t be deceived, it’s large enough that there is still privacy despite six different families living there.” Regina answered as she passed the first half of the mansion and parked in the horseshoe driveway where there were already a few other vehicles parked. “Besides it’s divided. See? There is a common area on the first floor the separates the west and east wings. That’s where we eat dinner or host big parties.”

“How does that work with six families? I don’t mean to sound insulting, but it sounds like a cult.” Alice blushed having not stopped herself from speaking her thoughts so freely.

The Mills sisters looked at each other and then broke down laughing. “I can see where you would get that impression, however, half of us are family members while the other half are long time family friends who requested to live here to make it easier for them and the ranch itself. We live here in the West Wing.” The brunette turn off the ignition and got out of the car. She lowered her seat to allow Alice out. “Welcome to home sweet home for the summer.”

She barely heard Zelena’s comment as she got out of the car. “I hope she doesn’t faint once she sees the interior if she was wowed by the exterior and the ranch.”

* * *

Alice sat in what was to be her bedroom for the next two and a half months. She stared out her bedroom window that looked out towards the ranch where she got a chance to watch some of the horses mill about in the fenced field. Her papa was right, she did need to get out of the city. Zelena was also right about her reaction to their home, Alice had almost fainted during her tour because she had only thought places like this existed in catalogues or online. The Mills family home has shown they take great pride in making their home feel like a home and comfortable for everyone.

Her favorite part of the tour was the shower. The Mills had shower heads that allowed the user to choose to use either the standard rainfall spray or a waterfall spray. Even though she would probably find other things around the ranch or Storybrooke she’d miss, she already knew she was going to miss that shower.

She looked up when she heard a knock on her door. The door slowly opened and Zelena popped her head in. “How are you holding up, darling?”

“Amazing! I can’t tell you enough how breathe taken your entire home is, Zelena. I’m rather surprised, your home seems more like a mountain cabin than a house on a ranch. I always thought ranch houses were single story and very wide.”

Zelena sat down on the edge of the bed. “Our first house was like that until we expanded and made our dream home. It took a while, but we made it. That’s why it feels like a mountain cabin than a ranch house. My Robin and I loved the aesthetic of the mountains with the logs and various stone walls, to us it always felt warm and intimate. We also made sure to allow as much natural light in as possible during the daytime to make it not feel as claustrophobic. A lot of meticulous planning.”

“Well, it’s absolutely wonderful!”

“Thank you. Now come on, dinner is ready. Let’s have you meet everyone. Again if it becomes to overwhelming-”

“Let you know.” Alice finished. “I think I’ll be fine. If anything just point people out to me and I’ll meet them all individually during my stay.”

“Of course, darling.”

Alice followed Zelena to the center common room between the two wings. It functioned as a clubhouse lounge of an apartment complex or gated community. A kitchen to bake and cook, a giant TV with a lounge area, and a dining area. The common room was big enough that even with over thirty people there was plenty of space for everyone to walk about and not be overwhelming like Alice had anticipated from Zelena’s words. It warmed Alice’s heart that Zelena was being very considerate about her situation that she thought it would have been too much for her.

“Robin, my love. I’d like you to meet our guest for the next several months.” Zelena waved her husband over. “Alice, this is my husband, Robin. My love, this is Alice, Rogers’s daughter.”

The blonde squeaked in surprise when the man enveloped her in a hug when she reached out to shake his hand. “Welcome! And call me ‘Rob’ otherwise it’ll get confusing which Robin is being addressed. I’m surprised you and Rogers never came up to visit in the past despite my wife constantly inviting you two for years.” Rob let go of Alice and wrapped an arm around Zelena’s waist.

“Um, who is the friend my Papa called and how did you meet my Papa?”

Zelena raised her hand. “That would be me. I met your father by random chance when he was still in the Irish Navy. He got into a fight at the bar I was working at and I bailed him out from getting in trouble. We struck an instant friendship for some odd reason and we kept in contact through the years. My Robin even got a little jealous while we were dating since he thought there was something more between us.”

Alice tilted her head side to side at this new information. “Huh, I never knew. I guess Papa has been keeping quite a bit from me.”

“There are somethings that are hard for parents to talk to their kids.” Rob answered. “Even if they are grown adults, especially about their pasts. I’m sure if you ask him he’ll tell you.”

“Probably. I know things happened with him that wouldn’t want to bring up. Stuff with his family and my mother. While I’m here would you be able to tell me more about my Papa?”

“Of course.” Zelena pulled away from her husband and grabbed Alice’s hand. “Now let’s give you some name to faces with the extended family.”

The redhead guided Alice to the long kitchen island that separated the cooking area from the dining and lounge. She pointed towards her sister and three other people with her. “Over there we have Regina and her family: Her husband, Daniel. They’ve been married for nearly forty years.”

Alice eyes widened in shock. “Forty years?! When did she have time to be the mayor?”

Zelena nodded. “They’ve been married since Regina was eighteen. Not gonna lie, I was very envious of her when we were younger because she did so many amazing things by the time she was twenty. A wife, a mother, and the mayor of Storybrooke. When I was twenty, I was at Storybrooke College still trying to figure out what I wanted as my major.”

The elder Mills sister pointed at the couple standing next to Regina and her husband. “That is Henry, Regina and Daniel’s son, along with his wife, Jacinda. In a few more years they’ll be celebrating their ten year anniversary.”

Sensing eyes on them, Henry and Jacinda walked over to where Zelena and Alice were. Jacinda was the first to reach forward and hug Alice. “Hello, you must be Alice.”

“Pleasure to meet both of you.” Alice greeted.

Zelena looked around and frowned. “Henry, where are my monkeys and your little one?” Alice looked at her host very confused when she brought up monkeys.

“They ordered a to-go dinner from Granny’s since Lucy’s ballot dress rehearsal is running late from technical difficulties earlier.” Henry replied before holding his hand out to Alice. “Hello, I’m Henry. Sorry I didn’t meet you earlier when you arrived, I was in the middle of an intense battle scene.”

“Pardon?” Alice questioned.

“Sorry, I’m a writer. Currently writing what would happen if the fairytale characters we knew were suddenly in our world, but the twist is that they’re cursed and don’t realize they’re fairytale characters. That’s all I can say since I don’t want to give away the full story.”

“Curses… of course. Is it just one curse or several?” Henry blushed causing his wife to giggle.

Jacinda rubbed her husband’s back. “Guess you’ll just have to wait to find out, Alice.”

Henry looked over Alice’s shoulder as he saw his father waving him over. “We can talk more at dinner, Dad is hailing me.”

Alice turned back to Zelena. “What’s this about monkeys? Again keeping with the _Wizard of Oz_ theme, does that make you the Wicked Witch?”

The red head chuckled. “My monkeys are my son and daughter. Roland, my son, is ‘Big Monkey’ because he’s the eldest while Robin, my daughter, is ‘Little Monkey’. If you asked my kids when they were younger they would probably tell you they thought I was the Wicked Witch.”

She cocked her head at Zelena’s explanation. “Your daughter is Robin, not your son. Robin junior is a girl.”

Both Jacinda and Zelena chuckled. “Don’t even let her hear you called her ‘junior’. My cousin-in-law hates being called ‘junior’.”

“We originally thought Robin was a boy and had settled on the name.” Zelena began explaining. “We were surprised to find out she was a girl when she was born. We didn’t plan for any girl names so we settled on Robin since it’s a gender neutral name. Too bad she isn’t here. Because if you had both my Robins next to each other, there is no doubt they’re related. She’s practically a female clone of her father.”

Alice nodded following what was being explained to her. “And that’s why Papa-Robin goes by Rob?”

“Indeed. You’ll probably even hear Roland and my Robin call Robin ‘Robbie’, but that’s reserved only for them.” Zelena looked around and saw the next couple for Alice to get to know. “Over there is Sabine and her husband, Drew. They own a food truck out in town and definitely the best cooks on the entire ranch when it comes to the kitchen. But when it comes to open fire cooking and grilling, leave that to my Robin and his friends. While you’re here you’ll want to have Sabine’s beignets and gumbo at least once. We feed everyone well on the ranch.”

The blonde was beaming with excitement. “I think I’m starting to understand what you mean about dinner being a big deal. So what are we having?”

Zelena gently turned Alice around to look at all the food laid out on the island top. “Tonight is a potluck style dinner. So feel free to eat whatever you want. You’ll find the note cards that has ingredients listed in case of allergies and who cooked the dish. Too bad my kids ate out. They’re missing out on the Mills famous lasagna. Best homemade lasagna in all of Storybrooke.”

* * *

After dinner Alice retired to the giant balcony above the driveway at the front of the hou- mansion, Alice corrected herself. She was on her phone reading whatever she could find about Storybrooke and kept falling deeper and deeper into the information rabbit hole with each new link she opened to learn more about the town. Alice was so enthralled at what she was learning that she didn’t hear a vehicle pull into the driveway below until she heard music blasting from below her. She looked up confused with the silence being interrupted with two people singing a cheesy show tune that sounded familiar to her.

Alice got up from her seat and tried to see what was happening below to no avail. She didn’t understand why she even bothered to attempt to look since the balcony was directly over the driveway. The blonde chuckled as she heard the two people below singing a song to _High School Musical._ Ryan and Sharpay’s audition song to be exact. She hummed along to the song, partially reliving her childhood watching that movie on Disney Channel and begging her papa for the CD.

“I told you not to do the jazz squares.” Alice heard a woman say after the song finished.

“It’s a crowd favorite. Everybody loves a good jazz square.” A man replied.

“You two are so weird! What was that? And what’s a jazz square.” A younger voice perked up.

Alice could hear over dramatic gasps from the two adults. “We have failed you as your nerdy older cousins.” The woman replied. “How could we have you be in our vehicle without knowing classic Disney songs or songs that was part of the end of a wonderful Disney Channel era?”

“Robbie, how could she not know what a jazz square is? Mr. Mosby would be so ashamed!”

That caught Alice’s attention. The three people below were Roland, Robin, and Lucy. “Who’s Mr. Mosby?” Lucy asked.

The blonde placed a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing as the siblings gave another over dramatic gasp. “Roland… she doesn’t know who Mr. Mosby is. How is she going to learn the PRNDL and what AM and FM are?”

“PRNDL?”

“Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, and Low.” Both siblings replied.

“You mean the gear shift?” Lucy asked.

“Yep! The PRNDL!” Robin replied. “Thank you London Tipton and Mr. Mosby for our first driving lesson.”

“Would you like AM or FMMMMMM?” Roland chirped causing both siblings to break down in laughter.

“I’m going inside. I don’t know why I like hanging out with you two. You’re both so weird.” Lucy shrieked.

Alice turned around on the railing to see that Robin had picked up Lucy and tossed her over her shoulder. Robin and Roland had their backs to her and Lucy was busy playfully smacking Robin’s back to be put down while they walked to the fence line opposite of the driveway.

“ROBIN! Put me down!” Lucy laughed.

The Hood siblings looked at each other and had a mischievous grin on their faces. Robin hopped a little for Lucy to fall backwards with Roland to catch her by the arms while Robin held Lucy by the ankles. They gently started swinging Lucy and counting down to toss her over the fence.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“ON-”

“No! No! No! Okay, I’m sorry for calling you two weird. You two are amazing and so much fun to be around!” Lucy shrieked while having a giant smile on her face. Robin and Roland put Lucy down and high-fived each other.

“What are you three doing? You’re so loud! People are starting to go to sleep because of work in the morning.” Alice could hear Zelena’s voice wasn’t harsh as she playfully scolded her children and great-niece.

“Sorry mom.”

“Sorry Aunt Zee.” The three apologized.

Robin and Roland walked back under the balcony and into the mansion. Lucy followed them, but stopped and looked up to see Alice. Ecstatic to see someone new, Lucy gave Alice a big smile and waved vigorously. Alice returned the smile and waved back until Lucy ran towards her great-aunt.

“Who’s the girl on the balcony?” Alice heard Lucy ask. The blonde smiled excited for what tomorrow will have in store for her. She was loving Storybrooke already.


	2. First Day

Alice stretched out on her bed like a cat who had just woken from a long nap. She quietly moaned having what she considered one of the best sleeps she had ever experienced. The bed had a memory foam mattress, which she had never slept on before. Now she was mentally working out an excuse to convince her father to buy her a memory foam mattress when she returned to their apartment.

“Good morning, Mr. Rabbit! Did you sleep as well as I did?” Alice reached over to the other side of the bed where her stuffed white rabbit laid and pulled him to her chest for a hug. He was a little worn from over the years, his coat not as white as when Rogers gave him to Alice the day she was born, and his ears didn’t stand up anymore, but he was well taken care of by the blonde. He had been her constant friend when she needed a hug and someone to listen to her. Someone who wasn’t her father or her honorary second father. “We can add this to our growing list of things we’ll miss here. That brings us to the shower, the mattress, and the wonderful natural lighting into this bedroom!”

She rolled onto her back still holding onto Mr. Rabbit enjoying the sense of serenity as the sunlight softly seeped through the shades bouncing off white walls. Alice still marveled at how the exterior of the mansion was rustic while the interior was modern. It must have taken Zelena and her family a very long time with all their meticulous planning to have their dream home become reality. The blonde could only imagine how many disagreements must have arose during the process.

“Hmmm… what are six impossible things we can think of today?” Alice held Mr. Rabbit over her head before bringing him down to kiss his nose. “Don’t worry, there are so many wonders to discover in this new place that we won’t stress ourselves to list them off before breakfast.”

The blonde practically bounced out of bed and changed out of her night clothes. She donned black leggings, a white t-shirt, black button down vest, and her favorite red and black plaid shirt. Alice looked between her combat boots and sneakers. “It feels more like an urban day, boots it is.” Alice said to herself as she put her boots on.

Before leaving her room, Alice made the bed while also tucking Mr. Rabbit back under the covers. She leaned in to kiss his nose again. “Sleep tight my dear friend, I know it’s a new place, but think of the adventures. I’ll see you when I get back later tonight!”

The moment Alice entered the hallway her nose was smelling the aroma of breakfast. She followed her nose into the kitchen where she saw the three adult Mills women and the girl from last night at various stations making breakfast. Regina was with the girl making pancakes on an electric griddle, Zelena was at the stove cooking bacon and sausages in cast iron pans, and Jacinda was by the sink squeezing oranges into the juicer.

“Good morning, everyone!” Alice greeted.

“Good morning!” All four returned the greeting.

The girl moved the latest batch of pancakes onto a plate before stepping down from the stool leaving her grandma to make the rest of the pancakes. She moved around the kitchen island until she was standing in front of Alice. She held her hand out for it to be shaked. “Hello! I’m Lucy Mills. You were the girl on the balcony last night, right?”

Alice was taken aback at Lucy’s manners. Most kids she worked with at a mini-art studio were never this polite towards her. It was a nice change. “Hello, I’m Alice Jones. Yes, I was the girl on the balcony last night.” She was also shocked to feel Lucy give her a firm handshake. “Wow! That’s a good handshake.”

Lucy blushed a little. “Thank you. My family believe in making good first impressions and being respectful.

The blonde quickly glanced at the Mills women who were beaming proudly at the youngest Mills. “Both very good lessons to learn early and keep with you. My papa and Weaver made sure I learned those early too.”

“I have three very important questions for you.” Lucy stated looking very serious at Alice.

Alice sat down on one of the bar stools suddenly feeling nervous. “Okay? I’ll try to answer them.”

“What is your favorite color? Favorite cooking utensil? And favorite flavored ice cream?”

Those were definitely not the questions she expected from how serious Lucy looked. “Um… I love all shades of blue. Would a tea kettle count as a cooking utensil? Favorite ice cream… I’m going to cop out and give two answers. If it’s Häagen Daz ice cream, I love their vanilla ice cream. It was my first taste of ice cream ever. Any other brand I tend to eat- I’m not sure if there is a generic name for it, but it has vanilla, chocolate, and caramel.”

Lucy beamed at Alice’s answers and sat down next to the older girl. “I love all shades of purple. I’m currently favoring lilac and lavender. My favorite utensil is the spatula. My favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip.”

“Really?” Alice exclaimed. “You’re a very eccentric kid.”

“Eccentric?”

“Uncommon. Different. Not in a bad way.” Alice quickly added when she saw Lucy’s smile start to fall. “I always enjoy the eccentric people. They’re more enjoyable to be around. Making each person unique to their own character than everyone being the same.”

“Would Robin and Roland be eccentric? They’re my cousins who are crazy and weird, but in a good way. They always know how to make me laugh and feel better when I’m feeling down.”

Alice smiled. “Yes, I heard about the jazz squares and PRNDL last night.”

The youngest Mills groaned. “Not you too!”

“How old are your cousins? Because I’m confident I’m in the same age group as them.” Alice chuckled.

Before Lucy could answer, Regina placed a plate of short stacks in front of her granddaughter and their guest. “Princesita, she’ll be here for the rest of summer. You will have plenty of time to ask her questions.” Lucy pouted playfully as she poured maple syrup over her pancakes. Regina smiled and turned her attention to Alice. “So, what do you plan on doing today?”

The blonde shrugged. “Not sure. I would like to see more of what’s around Main Street.”

“Why not ask Mary Margaret to take you into town, since she’s heading in anyways? I could always give you a lift back home after teaching my cycling class this afternoon.” Zelena offered.

“Would that be okay? I don’t want to intrude on her if she already had plans.”

“Well, let’s see.” Zelena pulled out her phone and sent a text message to the other woman. “Do you remember who Mary Margaret is, Alice?”

Alice nodded. “Yes, she’s the mayor of Storybrooke. She is Regina’s successor. She’s married to David Nolan who is the shepherd of the ranch. Prior to being mayor she was a fourth grade teacher at Storybrooke Elementary. She has a son named Neal, who is a jockey for Storybrooke Ranch.”

“I’m impressed.” Zelena’s phone vibrated. “She says, you can get a lift from her. She also offered to show you around town hall if you want a tour.”

“That would be lovely.”

“Great, she’ll be heading in around eight.”

“Morning, love.” Rob greeted his wife before giving her a quick peck on the lips.

“HEY DEVIL RUNT! PICK UP THE PACE!”

“I’M MOVING YOU STUCK UP POSH RUST BUCKET!”

“JARHEAD!”

“SQUID!”

“CULT!”

Silence fell upon the kitchen once the front door shut. Zelena was giving Rob a look. Rob tucked his chin into his chest as he turned away to pour himself a mug of coffee.

“What just happened?” Alice asked quietly.

“That would be one of the many ways my cousins show their love for each other.” Lucy answered.

“That was love?!”

Jacinda chuckled as she sat down on the other side of her daughter. “For them that is love. Though it has gotten a little more extreme since they joined the military.”

“Yes… which was a certain someone’s brilliant idea. Four years without my children home and practically halfway around the world.” Zelena looked at her husband before winking at him.

“Are they not going to join us for breakfast?” Alice looked towards the foyer. “I was hoping to meet them.”

“They’re jocks and their military discipline is ingrained in them.” Rob explained as he placed a mug of coffee in front of Zelena as a gesture of an apology. “They usually do their daily workout in the morning before breakfast.”

“But Uncle Robin, they workout when watching TV or playing games. They workout when they’re bored.” Lucy point out. “You and grandpa were out in the fields last weekend and didn’t see them working out to this 90’s kid game show. They were even wearing shirts to one of the teams.”

“The Green Monkeys.” Rob and Zelena answered together.

Alice laughed and had to grab the counter to keep herself from falling out of her seat. “You’re pulling my leg. There is no way there was a team called ‘The Green Monkeys’. That’s just too perfect with the Wizard of Oz theme with your family.”

“Oh, it’s real. It was perfect for them.” Zelena held her phone out for Alice to see the image she pulled up. “See this is my monkeys wearing the shirts from that kid’s game show.”

“Aw… they were adorable as little kids!”

* * *

“... here we are back to my office. Like I said it’s not much, but I’d thought you’d like to learn a little more history of Storybrooke.” Mary Margaret beamed with pride over the town hall.

“I found it wonderful. Storybrooke is such a breath of fresh air from New York City. It has this wonderful charm to it.” Alice sat down on the couch in Mary Margaret’s office. “Though the decor in your office seems a little off compared to the rest of town hall.”

Mary Margaret sat down next to Alice. “This is actually the design Regina went with when she was in office. While at times it does feel cold, it has sense of timelessness as well. She paid for everything on the decor when she took office. The previous incarnation of the office was taken out of funds for the town by our formers mayors before Regina. She really stepped up and turned this town around for the better.”

“If I may ask, how old were you when she became mayor?”

“I was eight. Regina has been like an older sister to me and I’ve admired her for as long as I could remember that I felt the need to run for mayor when she announced she was stepping down all those years ago.”

“Well, from an outside perspective, it seems you’ve done very well for yourself as mayor. I’m sure Regina is very proud with what you’ve done for Storybrooke.”

The brunette blushed. “Thank you. I do what I can.”

Both looked up toward the office entrance when they heard a knock. Standing by the open door was the younger blonde Alice saw walking out of the sheriff station the previous day. “Ah, Hope! I’d like you to meet Storybrooke’s latest visitor who is staying at Emerald Acres, Alice.”

Alice stood up as Hope walked up to them smiling. “Hello, I’m Alice. But I guess you just heard it from Mary Margaret.” She mumbled realizing there wasn’t a point to say her name.

Hope smiled to ease Alice’s embarrassment, “Nice to meet you Alice, I’m Hope. But I guess you just heard it from Mary Margaret” The younger blonde winked as they shook hands. “So, how are you liking our little gem of a town?”

“I’m loving everything about it so far. I’m not sure if it’s because of the storybook theme that this town seems to have or maybe there is a little bit of magic here.”

The younger blonde chuckled. “Yeah, Storybrooke has that effect on people. It has this charm that makes it hard to let go of this place once you’ve been here. Is Alice here to help us sort out paperwork, Madame Mayor?”

Mary Margaret looked over at Alice. “No, not really. I gave her a lift into town and a tour of town hall. Alice, I’m sorry for holding you up. I’m sure you would rather go explore around main street than spend time here.”

“Why don’t I help out where I can? It’s Saturday, you shouldn’t have to be stuck in your office when you could be back home with your family.” Alice offered.

“Are you sure?” Hope asked. “Because I’m not here purely for altruism means, sorry Madame Mayor, I’m here for a resume boost and a paycheck before school starts up again in September.”

The brunette gave the younger blonde a playful crossed look. “It’s alright, Hope. Believe me I understand. Hope is here as a summer intern and acting mayor’s assistant so my actual assistant could take the summer off with her kids.”

“Ah.” Alice turned back towards Hope smiling. “So you’re paid to be here and help her out.”

“A girl has to get her money from somewhere when her parents don’t give her an allowance that isn’t for necessities.”

“What are you buying this time, Hope?” Mary Margaret asked as she placed a stack of folders on the coffee table.

“I’m commissioning Roland to make me a sword from a cartoon show. It’s going to be more expensive than my other commissions from him since it’s going to involve meteorite as the main component for the blade. And it’s technically more difficult than when Roland and Sean use common metals. Oh, and he said I’m to pay for the bandsaw replacements. We’re looking at a couple of thou.”

“Thou? As in thousands?” Alice asked. Hope nodded beaming with pride. “Is a sword really worth commissioning for that much?”

Hope placed her hand on Alice’s shoulder and guided the other blonde to sit down with her. “I’m a bit of a nut when it comes to swords. My mom blames my dad all the time when I come home with a new commission since he’s the one who accidentally got me into swords.”

“How many swords do you have?” When Alice saw Hope had to think about it she stopped the other girl. “Never mind, you can tell me some other time.”

Mary Margaret and Hope both laughed before all three of them started sorting out the various paperwork. Since Alice didn’t know what to look for with the paperwork, she was assigned to file them away to their respective folders in the filing cabinets. “Is this common to have this much paperwork to run a town?”

“Yes and no.” Mary Margaret answered as she handed a new stack to Alice. “We got really busy at the end of the first quarter going into second quarter that we didn’t have time to file first quarter’s paperwork. Regina instilled proper file management since our previous mayors conveniently kept losing important paperwork.”

“From what I heard this place was really corrupted even before my parents came here.” Hope interjected as she got up to help Alice put away some of the files. “My mom is the sheriff and she arrived towards the end of Regina’s mayorship. One of Regina’s last acts as mayor was pining my mother’s badge on her after she won an uncontested election. The sheriff before her was apparently just as remarkable as Regina since he was elected sheriff at a young age.”

“Graham, may his soul rest peacefully,” Mary Margaret gave a quick prayer. “Was the best sheriff we could have asked for during the time this town was changing. I remember a lot of the more elder residents were just as skeptical of Regina appointing him as a candidate when she took over as mayor.”

Hope brought her voice down to a whisper for only Alice to hear. “Mary Margaret will never say it out loud because she always tries to see the best in people, but the old sheriff before Graham is a frequent patron at one of the more run down bars on the outskirts of town. The former Storybrooke District Attorney was just as foul and rotten as the former sheriff and mayor. When I say the town was corrupted, it was corrupted from the stories I heard.”

“I didn’t read about any of this on the wikipedia page or on the town’s website.”

“You wouldn’t’ve. It would have been a PR disaster and it would have only been released if the town was run to the ground.”

“So what happened to the D.A. and former mayor?”

Before Hope could answer Mary Margaret interrupted them. “Well, I think we deserve a lunch break before we start up again. Don’t you think?”

“Sounds good.” Hope pulled out her phone to look at the time. “Reconvene in an hour?”

“That should give me enough time to run to the grocery store with David. It’s our turn to cook this weekend.”

Alice felt her hand being tugged as Hope was starting to gently pull her out of the office. “Meanwhile, Alice and I will go grab food at Granny’s. See you in an hour, Mary Margaret!”

* * *

As Hope and Alice walked down main street towards Granny’s, Hope was trying to get idea on how many movies and TV shows Alice had seen to know what she was talking about when it came to her sword collection. “So, you’re telling me, you hardly watched TV or movies growing up except for Disney and occasionally non-Disney stuff?”

“Yep, only time I really watched anything was when I was waiting for my papa or Weaver to get done with work to take me home after school. Disney was the only thing they allowed in the kid’s area of the precinct. While we do have accounts with Netflix and Hulu, my papa is the one who watches anything on them with Weaver when they get home from work. I usually read or draw.”

Hope paused and gave Alice a sympathetic look. “I’m so sorry. But you’re staying with Roland and Robin. Trust me they’ll find a way to get you to binge watch a lot of things.”

Alice laughed. “I’ve been getting the impression that they’re a duo of misfits.”

“Lucy?” Hope guessed. Alice nodded. “Yeah, it’s because of how they look at life. They live every day to it’s fullest. Roland has always been this embodiment of sunshine and warmth that is until someone really pisses him off or hurts his family, especially Robin. Robin… Robin is definitely an interesting one.”

“What do you mean?”

“Robin has been like this older sister to me growing up. But with her, it’s not sunshines and rainbows. She didn’t do anything malicious, but let’s just say if things were different she could have easily been one of those mean girls that are in every school of every grade level.” Hope began walking again. “I almost became one of those girls if it wasn’t for Robin.”

“Well, I still haven’t met either of them.” Alice stumbled as Hope stopped abruptly again. She looked up and saw they were in front of Granny’s Diner.

“How could you have not met them yet? That’s impossible.”

Alice shrugged. “Looks like you helped me come up with one of my six impossible things about Storybrooke. Because I haven’t met them. They came home late last night because of something to do with Lucy’s ballet rehearsal and this morning they ran out of the house for their morning workout. So I heard them and kind of saw them, but haven’t officially met them.”

Hope shook her head amazed at what she was hearing. “I think you’re the first person ever to be at Emerald Acres for over twelve hours and not have met them. The only time that would have ever happened prior to earlier this year was when those two were in Europe for four years. Now c’mon let’s get some food!”

The two entered the diner and snagged the stools at the bar top close to the back of the diner. Hope introduced Alice to Granny before ordering hot cocoa for the both of them. They were discussing the menu when Alice’s eyes wandered towards one of the waitresses who was taking care of the booth with the town’s firefighters. After the waitress took their orders she leaned down and kissed the female firefighter on the cheek.

“Who’s that?” Alice asked.

Hope looked over quickly a rolled her eyes while smiling. “That would be Ruby and her wife, Dorothy. Ruby is Granny’s granddaughter and co-owner of the diner. As you can tell Dorothy is with the fire department.”

“Dorothy wouldn’t happen to be from Kansas and possibly enemies with Zelena would she?”

The older blonde jumped slightly as she heard a laugh from behind them. The two blondes turned to see Ruby. “I see we have a _Wizard of Oz_ fan here.” She took a seat on the other side of Hope. “To answer your question, yes, Dorothy is from Kansas. And yes, she is named after _that_ Dorothy as much as she really doesn’t want to admit it. Now who’s your friend, Hope?”

“This is Alice. She’s the one staying at Emerald Acres for the summer.”

“Lord help her with Roland and Robin back in town.” Ruby said as she shook her head sympathetically.

“Seriously, why do people keep saying that about them? They can’t possibly be that bad.”

Ruby and Hope shared a look. “You have no idea, Alice. By the way are you-”

“Nope! No, no. I’m not named after _that_ Alice. I think I share the same sentiments as your wife over a shared name with a well known fictional fairy tale character.”

“Got it. Well, have you two decided what you’d like to eat?”

Hope and Alice both shook their heads. “We’re still working through the menu, Rubes. We’ll let you or Granny know when we’re ready.”

Ruby nodded and walked off to check on the various orders that should be coming up. Hope looked up at the clock and shot up from her seat, “Hey, do you mind if I leave you for a bit? I have to make a phone call, she doesn’t have much time with her busy schedule.”

“Sure. You do whatever you need to do.”

“Thanks! I’ll be right outside if you need me.” Hope looked down at the menu again. “If you decide what you’d like before I get back could you get me a cobb salad and lobster rolls? I’ll be back shortly.”

The older blonde watched as Hope power walked to the entrance to make her phone call. She wondered for a few minutes on what could be so important about the call before looking back at the menu. Alice finally settled on clam chowder and french fries for her lunch. She was curious how an actual New England clam chowder, not one from a can, was going to taste compared to the Manhattan clam chowder she grew up with. Hearing the front door bell ring, Alice turned expecting to see Hope coming back in from her phone call.

Instead Alice’s eyes widened seeing her papa walking into the diner with the woman she saw leaving the sheriff’s station with Hope yesterday. “Papa!” She immediately called out.

The man and woman paused looking over at Alice confused. The woman looked over to her male companion. “Papa? Is there something you want to tell me that you haven’t the last twenty years we’ve been married?”

“What? No, no.” The man turned his attention back to Alice. “I’m sorry, love. I have a daughter and she’s the only one I have. You seem to be about her age, maybe a little older…” He turned back to the woman. “Emma, I swear, I was not with anyone else while we were still in our dating phase.”

Emma gave the man a look. “I’ve been married to you for twenty years, you remember my super power, right?” Her husband nodded. “Good, because I know you’re not lying.”

The younger blonde looked at the couple confused. “You’re not my papa…”

Her papa’s look-a-like chuckled nervously. “No, I’m afraid not. Like I said I only have the one daughter.”

“By chance… were you born in Drogheda, Ireland?”

“Aye…”

“Your father’s name was Brennan and your mother’s name was Alice.”

“Aye..” He quirked his eyebrow and started to get a little defensive on how this young woman in front of him knew about his history.

“And your birthday is on January 26th.”

“Aye again, love. Now how the bloody hell do you know all this? I swear I’ve never met you before in my life. Even my wife,” He gestured to the woman next to him. “Didn’t even know my parents names.”

Alice took a deep breath. “Because the reason why I thought you were my papa is because you’re his less-dashing-other-self. You’re my Uncle Killian.”

Killian relaxed as he was stunned at what he just heard. “You- you’re Rogers’ girl? I didn’t know he had a daughter.”

“Yeah, well not like you two kept in touch over the years either. Because I only knew you in name and that my papa was the youngest of his two brothers. Papa only mentioned you once and that was because I had a school family project and he wanted me to be aware I had two uncles.” Alice said disdainfully.

Her papa’s twin looked away briefly then back at his niece. “I… I had done many terrible things in the past that I deserved to not have been part of his life once he left home. Things that I wrongfully tried passing the blame onto him because we are twins. Please, come sit with my wife and I, our daughter, your cousin should be joining us soon as well. I would really like the chance to start making it up to him and if that means getting to know my niece who I didn’t expect to see here.”

Alice gave her uncle a look of disbelief. “I’ll have to decline. Whatever you did to my papa has had some really lasting effects on him since he only referred to you as his less-dashing-other-self. And as far as I’m concerned I had only one uncle and that uncle was Uncle Liam.”

“Here you go, Alice. Two hot chocolates with cinnamon sprinkled on top.” Ruby announced as she placed the mugs on the countertop before walking away to take care of the other customers.

“You- you’re name is Alice?”

The younger blonde grabbed a mug before turning back to her uncle. “Yes, papa named me after grandma. Now if you’ll please excuse me, I need to go.” She handed the mug of hot cocoa to her uncle. “Please give this to Hope when she arrives and tell her I’m sorry I couldn’t stay.”

“So you’ve already met your cousin?” Killian asked. “Hope… she’s my daughter.”

Alice let out a huff before leaving her aunt and uncle at the diner rushing past Hope who was still on the phone, missing the other blonde’s worried look. As she walked back to town hall, she was not fully aware of her surroundings. She was lost in her own head as she replayed over and over her encounter with the uncle she never expected to ever meet. Having mixed feelings how to feel towards her cousin, who she got along with well enough before this new information was brought to her. Suddenly she felt a pull on the back of her shirt as she was yanked off the street and back onto the sidewalk. Before she could object a car sped away in front of her and the driver blaring their horn as they passed.

“Are you alright, darling?” She turned around to see Zelena looking at her concerned. Zelena had just pulled her back from being run over.

“Uh- I- No, I’m not alright.”

Zelena pulled Alice into a one armed hug. “What happened?”

“I- Can I just take me back to the ranch? I don’t want to be here in the middle of town anymore.” Alice closed her eyes and began to take deep breaths as she tried to regain some control over herself before today became a bad one.

“Okay. C’mon, I parked not far from here.” Zelena offered.

Alice just nodded as her host lead her to the car. Zelena didn’t speak to her, giving her space. Slowly she pulled out her cell phone and sent a short text to her papa.

> _~~I saw Uncle Killian.~~ _
> 
> _~~IRan into Uncle Killian~~ _
> 
> _~~Your less-dashing-otherself is in Storybrooke~~ _
> 
> _Uncle Killian is in Storybrooke_

She leaned her head against the window as Zelena drove them back to Emerald Acres. Hoping this little mishap wouldn’t cause her first real day in Storybrooke to turn into a bad one. She didn’t want to stop loving Storybrooke so soon.


	3. When Alice Met Robin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy One Year CuriousArcher Anniversary!

She knew her father wouldn’t respond for hours. He was at work and while he was at work his personal cell phone was locked away in his locker or desk. Depending on what kind of cases he was working on he’ll reply if he has time to have lunch in the break room or when he got home from work. If he got home from work. There were some cases where Rogers had slept at the precinct while Weaver was home looking after Alice. They never left Alice alone at night now matter the case needing both of them present except one time and that was after Alice had turned eighteen.

They had arrived back at the ranch a few minutes ago and instead of getting out immediately, Zelena stayed sitting in the driver seat when Alice didn’t attempt to get out of the SUV. Alice glared at the glove compartment as she tried to calm her sudden anger towards her uncle. She knew it was unfair to be acting this way towards him, but she was protective of her papa and she didn’t appreciate what she heard about her papa’s less-dashing-other-self during their boyhood into their early adulthood. The blonde looked over at her host and wondered why Zelena hadn’t told her about her papa’s twin living in Storybrooke.

“Zelena… how long have you known my papa?”

The redhead looked at her guest. “Oh dear, we’ve been friends for more than half our lives. I had just finished college, but didn’t know what to do with my degree. So I left for England and ended up working in a tavern part time while also working at a horse ranch my mother’s ranch is affiliated with. That’s how I learned what we do here. Don’t know what lead Rogers to the tavern… we just clicked as friends.”

“And you didn’t find anything odd about one of the residents in town?”

“What? Do you mean Killian?” Alice nodded. “No. I was surprised when I first met him, but he is not the first doppelganger that someone in my family has run into. Before my Robin and I were married he visited Seattle for some sort of business and he saw mine and Regina’s doppelgangers at this bar and cafe. I wouldn’t have believed him if he didn’t bring home a polaroid of him and the two sisters. Kelly and Roni were their names.” Zelena chuckled thinking about the photo.

Alice closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest. “He is my uncle.”

“Really?” Zelena asked surprised. “I didn’t know he had a twin. I knew he had an older brother.”

“My Uncle Liam.”

Zelena hummed in acknowledgement. “I guess I never thought much about Killian possibly being related to Rogers. Jones is a fairly common surname.”

“Papa doesn’t like talking about him. We’ve only talked about him once.”

Silence fell between them. Zelena reached over to rub Alice’s shoulder in comfort. “While you’re an adult, you are also my guest and will be treated as if you are one of my own children. So if I need to tell him off for you, I will not hesitate.”

Alice placed her hand over Zelena’s. “Thank you, but I’m just going to avoid him. The town’s big enough. It was just a shock seeing him especially since the odds of running into him were so slim. I’ll keep it in mind if he doesn’t leave me alone. Though I’m sure my cousin will help too.” Alice gave a chuckle. “It’s weird knowing I have a cousin now.”

“Hope is a good girl. Rather stubborn with a wicked temper on occasion, but still a good kid. Does she know you two are cousins?”

The blonde shrugged. “I would assume so since I ran into her parents at Granny’s when she and I were at lunch. Thy had to have passed her when they entered the diner.” Alice took a deep breath and tried to physically shake away her uneasy feelings. “I’m gonna go to my room. I need some time to myself.”

“Okay darling.” Zelena leaned in and kissed Alice’s temple. “We’re here if you need us.”

“Thank you. And thank you for the lift back.”

* * *

After lying in her bed for an hour hugging Mr. Rabbit, Alice got up because her stomach was protesting against her skipping lunch and was demanding food. As she stepped out of her room she ran into Lucy who was carrying a stack of towels.

“Oh!” Both gasped as the towels fell to the ground.

“Sorry about that, Lucy.” Alice knelt to pick up the towels.

“It’s okay, I was rushing to get back to the mud room.”

Alice gave Lucy a confused look. “Why were you going to the mud room?”

“Robin and Roland are in the mud room rinsing off from being covered in mud. Aunt Zelena won’t let them into the house until most of the mud is off of them, buuuutttttt…. Upstairs is carpeted so they also have to dry off before they’re allowed upstairs to shower and change clothes.”

The blonde opened her mouth only to close it deciding against asking her question. “Nope! Not even going to ask; they did something that sound outrageous, but is true.”

“Pretty much! At least now you can meet them!” Together they walked to the mud room to hear Robin and Roland bantering.

“Roland! Hold still, I’m trying to rinse my hair! You don’t know the struggles of mud in long hair!”

“You are so infuriatingly bossy.”

“I’m your younger sister. It’s my job to be infuriatingly bossy. Even if I was your older sister in some other reality it would still be my job to be infuriatingly bossy. Why? Purely on the fact that I’m your sister and you're my brother.” Robin countered.

“Will we ever get a day without you two bickering?” Lucy asked them before they could keep up their banter.

“Hey Luce!” Without thinking Roland waved with the hand holding the hose causing Robin to get a face full of water spray.

“ROLAND! WHAT THE F-”

“SMALL EARS!” Roland shouted over Robin’s cursing.

“... Fork. What the fork.” Robin slowly corrected herself.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “You do realize I know what you mean, right?”

“Doesn’t matter! I refuse to be blamed for you ever repeating those words in the future. There are only two sailors on this ranch. Therefore only two people on this ranch are allowed to swear like a sail- ‘ello.” Robin trailed off when she turned around to see Alice.

Alice bit her lip and gave a small wave while looking anywhere but at Robin having just realized the other woman was shirtless, but was still covered by her sports bra. “Hello.”

“So this is _the_ Alice Mom has been talking about.” Roland said as he put the hose into the large wash basin that contained Robin’s muddy shirt that was to be rinsed. “I’m Roland. The foul mouthed sailor over here is my baby sister.”

“Robin!” The sailor greeted more enthusiastically than she intended.

“So I finally get to meet the misfit duo I’ve heard so much about in the last twenty four hours.”

“I see our legend has spread quickly to Miss Wonderland.” Roland winked at Alice.

The blonde pouted at the nickname, but before she could correct Roland about only referencing Wonderland Robin turned to her brother. “How many times do we have to go over this? She’s not just from Wonderland! She’s been through the Looking-Glass too!”

“Yeah, but most people only know her from Wonderland.”

“Most people are also uncultured swine. Do you want to add ‘uncultured swine’ to your many nicknames?”

“No…” The Marine muttered.

“Didn’t think so.”

Roland looked back at Alice and nodded his head towards Robin. “ _Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass_ is her favorite story. So she gets rather defensive over it.”

“You get really defensive over _The Wizard of Oz_ , Roland.” Lucy pointed out.

“Since we’re sharing favorite stories; what’s yours, Alice?” Robin asked.

Alice blushed and mumbled something before speaking up. “ _Robin Hood_.”

Silence fell between the four of them until Roland began laughing and slapped Robin’s back. “Well you’ve met our dad so you’ve met Robin Hood! Unless you prefer Girl Robin Hood. My sister is single if you’re interested. OOF!” Roland doubled over holding his stomach where his sister elbowed him.

“Ignore him. He lives up to his nickname Jarhead.”

The blonde’s blush deepened as she watched some water droplets drip from Robin’s still wet hair and trail along her collarbone. “Oh! I’m sorry! How rude of me in not giving you privacy since you don’t have a shirt on!” Alice placed her hands over her face.

Robin chuckled. “Apologies from me for not being considerate to cover up. I got used to living with Alex and as long as we were covered it didn’t bother either of us if we were just in our underwear.” Lucy handed Robin a towel which she wrapped around herself like a blanket. “You can uncover your eyes now. Hopefully next time I won’t be cover by just a towel.”

“God I hope not.” Alice squeaked realizing instantly how rude that sounded and immediately began to backtrack. “Not that I wouldn’t mind, I mean I wouldn’t want to see.” She silently cursed herself as she began to word vomit. “Not saying you probably don’t looking amazing, I mean not like I’m thinking about what your body looks like. Not that I’m thinking about your body at all, I just met you. That would be weird. That’s weird, right?”

“A little. OOF!” Roland doubled over again from another one of Robin’s elbows to his stomach. Lucy was giggling at her cousins.

Alice could feel her face being warm from her blushing. “I don’t know what I mean anymore. Not body shaming. Power to all body types. Why do I even bother talking?” She asked herself before looking back up at Robin, seeing warmth in her green eyes. “Anyways I followed Lucy to finally meet you two and I have. If you’ll excuse me I’ll leave you two to continue cleaning up while I find something to eat. I skipped lunch. Okay… bye!”

She couldn’t bolt out of there fast enough embarrassed from the first impression of herself she gave them. She silently cursed at herself finding Robin attractive. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing having a crush on her. She was only going to be here for a couple of months.

Meanwhile back in the mud room Lucy was trying hard not to laugh while Robin playfully glared at Roland. “‘Unless you prefer Girl Robin Hood. My sister is single…’? What the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks, Bro!?”

“As your designated ride or die partner that also makes me your wingman! I’m trying to help you out! She’s cute and I got a feeling she prefers girls since she wasn’t fazed with my flirting! Luce back me up here! You saw heart eyes from Robbie and Alice too, right?”

“Yep! About as much as my parents, grandparents, and from Aunt Zee and Uncle Rob!”

“See!”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Then play it cool. Not need to be super extra.”

Roland and Lucy looked at each other before they began singing. “ _Robin and Alice sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!_ ”

“Oh, shush!”

Lucy kept singing while Roland laughed trying to keep Robin from punching him in the shoulder. “ _First comes love! Then comes marriage! Then comes baby in a baby carriage!_ Hey, when we say ‘baby in a baby carriage’ is that when the stork brings the baby to the mom and dad? Or in this case mom and mom?”

The Hood siblings looked at each other in horror. This was not their job. That was a lesson for Henry and Jacinda. “Nope! We’re not answering that one!” Robin practically shouted. “Go see if Alice needs help finding something to eat. She could have some of my leftover pizza if she wants.”

The youngest Mills looked at her cousins weirdly as she left the mudroom. “Remember you two promised we’d watch all of the High School Musical films!”

“Oh, believe us little cousin we didn’t forget.” Roland said quietly while grinning menacingly.

“She’s going to hate us once we reveal the true ‘villain’ of HSM to her.”

Roland waved Robin off. “She’ll be fine. Everyone should be exposed to who the true ‘villain’ is because it’s f-ed up to believe otherwise.”

“True. Now can we please finish washing up!? I can hear the shower calling my name!”

“As you wish, Robbie.”

“Smartass.”

“Posh Rust Bucket.”

“Jarhead.”

“Squid.”

“Cult!”

**Author's Note:**

> A co-worker unintentionally gave me this idea when we were swapping life stories. There will be a little angst in this story, but otherwise this is mainly a feel good Hallmark Channel Movie type story.
> 
> Also I’m not expert when it comes to horses. I had to talk many long hours with my aunt and cousins, who own a horse ranch, and what they did specifically when training their horses. The horses on my aunt’s ranch are mainly for rodeo competition, not derby racing nor equestrian.
> 
> Also this is an early apology for another story that will be posted in the near future (at the end of the month at the latest). It's a co-written story that my co-writer and I have been discussing, researching, outlining for the last couple of months. We can't wait to share it with everyone.


End file.
